Customer Reviews

Lust Killer: Updated Edition

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
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I have to agree with the reviewers who described LUST KILLER as one of Ann Rule's best. Rule's engrossing writing style accompanied with the sheer horror of this man's deeds makes for a guaranteed page-turner of a book. Some of the crimes Jerry Brudos committed were more disgusting than anything I've ever heard, so I'm surprised this is the first time I've ever heard his name.

As always, Rule treats the victims with the reverence they deserve. This book doesn't go into the same extreme detail about their lives as other of her novels do, but then this is a very short book. If you've never read Ann Rule before, I recommend starting here.

'Lust Killer' is one of Ann Rule's earlier true crime books. It doesn't quite reflect the extensive character study of some of her later (and brilliant) works but it does contain perhaps one of her most frightening characters, a man who has a [hang up on] women's garments ... and a true hatred of women. A deadly combination.

The female killing spree happened in Oregon some 30+ years ago but the story feels fresh. This reader was amazed how such horrible atrocities could occur, commited by both a husband and a father. It is unfortunate Ann Rule doesn't delve much into the killer's background, and indeed it seems the author didn't do her usual interviews of family members and related individuals. So 'Lust Killer' has a somewhat abridged feel to it .. and it is indeed one of Ann Rule's shorter books.

Bottom line: ghastly killer, horrible murders. Morbid yet fascinating.

I'd be truly interested to hear from Ann Rule herself about the re-issuing of books that seem to pre-date even Rule's "first book," The Stranger Beside Me, and how and why she was writing under the name Andy Stack. Then again, perhaps others know the answer to these mysteries.

I found this book to be interestingly different from Rule's later publications, where her writing is "thick," and her details incredibly thorough. This was a book that, I thought, was somewhat weak compared to Rule's later writing, though I will read anything that she puts out.

As I've been reading all three titles that were reissued, I am struck more and more by the thought, "Where do these monsters come from?" I had a childhood that could match any of these murderers for sadness, despair and abuse, yet I haven't a violent bone in my body. I'm always interested when Rule tries to probe that question.

My impression of this book is that its a lukewarm telling of a scary story, and it's an interesting read in that it's Ann Rule at her earliest.

I am a recent Ann Rule fan and cannot get enough of her true crime accounts. This is an older one...but still very powerful! In Lust Killer the events take place in the 1960's and 70's in Oregon, but the story is timeless and makes you feel as if it could happen in anywhere, USA.

Hated by his mother as a child (of course), Jerry Brudos grew to hate women, really hate women. Yet, even with that hatred he developed a strong liking for women's shoes and undergarments - but not his mother's. As with many serial killers, Jerry's behaviors started small and almost harmless (stealing undergarments and shoes) and quickly escalated to rape, murder and mutilation and not necessarily in that order.

If not caught, Jerry Brudos would have continued killing for years. What is most horrific about this story is the type of victims he chose and where he found them. They were typical women out in the public eye (a shopping mall, a parking garage) and he was able to attack them, and/or take them and kill them. Some he even took home where his wife was none the wiser.

Ann Rule does an amazing job of developing all the characters in this account. She covers Jerry's miserable childhood, Jerry's family including his wife and children, the victims short lives and the detectives involved in catching this sadistic killer. It is a quick read that will have you looking at every turn when you go in public. For that reason Ann Rule rules!

The title is dreadful, like something out of the true-crime magazines where Ann Rule got her start as a writer under the name Andy Stack (the pseudonym under which this book was originally published). But the book itself is compact, powerful, and filled with a kind of terrible sorrow for the destruction of many lives, beginning with Jerry Brudos, whose hateful treatment at the hands of his mother slowly but surely transformed him into a vicious sexual predator, and continuing with his murders of seveal Oregon women and the terrible damage done to their grieving families (the body of his first victim was never even found). Also, the terrible struggle of Brudos' wife Darcy, first with her marriage to a man she loved but began to fear, and finally with the Oregan legal system, which put her on trial as a co-conspirator in her husband's crimes. It is this ability to portray the humanity of the people in this case that transforms what might have simply been a grisly paperback exploitation of human cruelty and misery into a serious and worthwhile book.

'Lust Killer' is a book about a married man,romantic thoughtful husband,an envious employee,and the most horrible,evil serial killer world has ever heard of. His name is Jerry Brudos.
He's a devil itself in the form of a human being. He's obsessed with the women shoes so wherever he saw a nice pair of shoes in an attractive young lady he followed them up to their doorsteps.Then beat them, raped them, and stole their possesions - shoes, clothes and underwear so he could wear them and smell them when he got depressed. This wasn't enough for the psycho and when an ambitious girl in need for money knocked on his door to ask whether they'd like to buy a set of encyclopedias. He appeared to be interested and invited her in just so he could brutally kill her afterwards in his basement.This was the new beginning for him and he wouldn't stop until he got caught and confessed for all his crimes - which were a lot. Heaps.

This was the first book I've read from Ann Rule and I think she's a great writer. You have no choice but putting yourself into shoes of the victims,their sick worried,grieving relatives
and hard police work to identify the monster. I must admit this book is depressing too. It makes you cry when you read what J.B. victims endured from him. It's so sick. Nobody can even imagine what he has done.

I know LAW and the ACTS are so smartly created - but letting a monster such as Jerry Brudos get away with a death penalty despite his confessions in cold blood without any regrets is something I can not understand. I may sound to tough but once you got all the proofs that exist I think he or anybody who would dare to do such things on human beings would deserve the very same - to let them know how it actually feels to torture, to let them know how cruel it is what they do to their victims even though they can never feel the pain of victims and other people's grief for the lost ones who had a great life ahead of them if they only did know not to cross jerry brudos path but how can we possibly know whose path to cross when we are born to live,walk,work,enjoy life.

Ironic, but the lawyers who happen to be human beings to and who could have been victims or victim's relatives advice people such as Jerry Brudos to plead not guilty as if they were insane at the time when they've done the cruel things upon another human being.

To his wife and collegues, Jerry Brudos was a man whose mild manner contrasted with his awesome physical strength. But to the police, Jerry Brudo was the most sadistic killer. Ann Rule did a great job with this one. While it is a short read, it is full of grusome details that will keep you wanting to read more.

This book is a quick read. I read it in a matter of a few hours. The main character, Jerry Brudos, is repulsive and disturbing. Ann Rule does a fantastic job of telling his sick and twisted story. There were times when I felt a queasiness in my stomach. If you easily have nightmares, read this during the daytime. A real spine tingler!

Rule, who today is probably the best-known writer of very long true-crime books, here (in one of her first books) comes up with something short, and very, very scary. The subject of this book,
Jerry Brudos, could be considered one of the first modern serial killers (right around 1968). Brudos, who had a very unpleasant childhood, somehow grew up without a conscience, and unable to separate sex from violence. So he got his kicks from killing women. Fortunately, he didn't kill many (unlike Ted Bundy, who was a friend of Rule's before she knew what he was) before he got caught, and was imprisoned for life. Rule is very good at
going into the background and psychology of these monsters, and
telling us what creates them.

I got it as a used book from Amazon. After finishing it, I feel like telling all my female friends that no matter what, don't get into a stranger's car and when in doubt, fight and scream mightily. The 1960's OR seemed like an idealistic American town yet all the victims were cut short of their lives and dreams. They were your neighbors, friends, schoolmates, or co-workers. Yet they were unfortunate enough to chance-encounter the lust killer.

Pacifc Northwest, with its abandon mountains and wilderness, had attracted influx of new residence yearly. Comparing with the density of New York City, it's way too easy to dispose bodies and evidences before they are discovered. Big city dwellers are usually more aware of their surroundings than those who live in more rural area. So in a way, NYC might be safer than Salem, OR.